Cracking the Cone

Hard and fast or soft and gentle, Nikki Macdonald finds all tastes are satisfied in the Southern Lakes' all-round ski town.

A mud-spattered sport utility vehicle pulls over and offers me a ride. "As long as you don't have any gear. I don't want to have to unlock my roof rack." Brusque Ski Mum checks. I have only my ski boots neatly tucked in a boot bag, so I jump in the back and meet James.

I had shared a ride from Wanaka with a snowboarder, but he decided after just one run that Treble Cone was too steep and narrow for his skills, and bailed to Cardrona. So I'm feeling pretty smug, having skied the jewel of Wanaka all day long, then quickly scored a ride that doesn't involve being broadsided by sharp ski tips.

James, who is all of about nine, has spent the day competing in a junior ski race. Or to be more precise, James has spent most of the day sitting on his bum feeling sick, waiting for his two ski runs. James did not perform to expectations and the familial debrief appears unconstrained by my presence.

"You didn't do too badly, James," Ski Mum consoles. "You almost beat Damien, and he was on the podium last year. It doesn't matter if you're feeling sick. It only lasts 40 seconds, so you need to just dig in.

"I hope he hasn't got chicken pox like his brother," she adds, to me. "Have you had chicken pox?"

I had no idea skiing was such a serious business. All this time I thought it was just for fun.

But then Ski Mum has driven over the range from her home in Queenstown. And they do things a bit differently over there.

Landing in Queenstown is always stunning. I pick my way nervously over the Crown Range (the last time I crossed the range, not in the driver's seat, we ended up halfway down the bank into the creek) and it's not till I get my first sight of Lake Wanaka that the stress instantly evaporates.

The sun is setting, staining mountains and lake with a rose hue. Development has changed the Wanaka I first came to know as a teenager, when there seemed to be just one of everything - bar, restaurant, ski hire. But it's still the relaxed cousin to Queenstown. And it's lost none of its breathtaking beauty.

The flat calm lake is begging to be paddled. But that would mean giving up a day's skiing. And that's not going to happen. It's a curious sport when you think about it. But nothing beats the buzz of being in the mountains on a blue sky day; the woosh of adrenalin as you funnel down a chute; sunburnt cheeks and burning thighs, that first slug of beer at the end of a perfect day.

Brought up on the slopes of Whakapapa, on Mt Ruapehu, just four hours drive from Wellington, it seems ridiculous to fly to the other end of the country to ski. But the more I ski down south, the more difficult it is to return to the notoriously unreliable Ruapehu. I've wasted too many hours playing board games and solitaire stuck up the mountain in a ski chalet in a blizzard, or drinking coffee waiting for the final decision on whether the skifields will open. And then there's the queues.

On one chairlift at Cardrona I meet a couple who are embarrassed to admit they're from Taupo. They feel like traitors, but they've just had enough of Ruapehu weather, they explain.

One of the main advantages of the Wanaka area is that you've got four different downhill fields, one terrain park and one cross-country field within driving distance, all with quite different weather. So it's rare for nothing to be skiable.

The variety also keeps things interesting. For skiers, Treble Cone is a dream, for precisely the reasons my boarder driver hated it. It's steep, with challenging narrow chutes that lend themselves to skis not boards. In a world increasingly dominated by board riders, it's one of the few places you'll find yourself on a chairlift with all skiers.

When I last skied Treble they had only a T-bar to access the saddle basin. The replacement quad lift massively opens up the mountain's best skiing, and ensures queues so short I was desperate for a breather.

They also have the most incredible skifield view I've ever seen - back across Lake Wanaka with mountains on all sides. An American student I met reckoned he had to keep turning around, just to check it was still there.

Cardrona is a completely different field. They often have the best snow, and it's great for a cruisy day, or for families of varying abilities. The basin is so wide and open you can ski just about anywhere, which means you rarely have to deal with the hideous traffic jams of criss-crossing ski schools and maniac racers.

The field has just put in a new lift, the Valley View quad, which extends below the existing Whitestar lift, to create a full-length downhill run. They hope to get it running next year, when the snow-making facilities are in. It will open up a huge area of new terrain, but snowmaking will be critical - even mid-season there's still not enough natural coverage to open the area.

No doubt James will get to try out the new downhill race course. I just hope someone tells him it's supposed to be fun.

Nikki Macdonald travelled with the assistance of Wanaka tourism. lakewanaka.co.nz

- © Fairfax NZ News